Stolen
by stellakit
Summary: Skye closed the gap between them in a second, his hand now gripping the grass on the bank beside Jill's head, their faces separated by what felt like a hair length. She could feel his breath against her mouth each time he exhaled, and her heartbeat quickened in response to each sensation. Rated M in later chapters.
1. New Arrivals

**Hi all, here's a different take on a Skye x Jill relationship! Of course, Natsume owns all the characters and it's my twist on them.**

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Chapter 1

The sun blazed in the sky, which was blotched by small puffs of white clouds. It was as if the rays were absorbing all the moisture from the land, causing a wisp of dust to squirt out from any foot that dared to step onto the otherwise deserted farm fields. Weeds tackled the earth, kidnapping any kind of beauty that could be found there, and the wood of the barn house was farm from acceptable conditions. Various hurricanes had carried large logs and stones, only to drop them across the already messy land.

Jill sighed heavily, slowly losing any sort of confidence she previously had. In her right hand was a crumpled letter, worn from the folded creases. The black script on it was barely legible now, but she might as well have the entire thing memorized by now. So many times she had read the words over in an effort to make her final decision to come here. However, regret now tug at her heart as she scanned the poor excuse of a farm in front of her.

"What did I get myself into?" She whispered sadly to herself, shaking her head at the same time. Her tongue clicked irritably and she tapped her foot impatiently. Breathing another loud sigh, Jill crouched down, hovering herself above the dried, cracked land. Slipping the black glove off her hand, Jill scooped a handful of the soil in an attempt to find some sort of quality that could provide the nurture that crops needed so badly.

"Not what you expected?"

The scratchy voice from behind startled Jill, and she couldn't help but jump slightly. When she turned, she saw a face she didn't recognize. An old man stood behind her, wrinkles that came from spending days in the sun pulling his face down. Huge black eyebrows caused a distraction if someone were to try and speak with him. A stern frown was plastered to his face and a head of black hair receded quite a bit, revealing more than the desired amount of his forehead.

"Uh… Are you…?" Jill's hands suddenly shook as she straightened out the paper in her hand. Eyes squinted, trying to read the faded name at the bottom of the page, she worked over the word in her mind a couple times before speaking. "Are you Takakura?"

An uneasy smile appeared on the old man's face. He chuckled slightly, rubbing his calloused hands together. "Yes, I'm Takakura." There was a noticeable difference of pronunciation of his name when he said it. "I see you _did_ get my letter, after all."

"Yeah, it's right here." Jill waved the crinkled paper in front of Takakura's squinty eyes.

"I sent that almost two years ago…"

Jill scowled fiercely, sending a strong glare to the slightly hunched-over man. Her arms crossed on her chest unconsciously in an effort to display her obvious displeasure. "I'm sorry I took so long."

The sarcasm that hung on the words didn't seem to affect Takakura. Maybe he didn't understand it at all, since his facial expression remained the same. "Well, it's okay now, I g—"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I took so long to uproot my entire life in the city." Jill tucked a portion of her bangs behind her ears irritably. "I'm sorry that I wasn't rushing to the aid of some random guy who knew my father. The father that I didn't even know. The father that left out of the blue one night, without saying anything or telling us where he went. In fact—" she met Takakura's gaze with her livid violet eyes, which were narrowed so much she could barely see out them, "—I'm sorry that_ you_ expected me to show up in the first place!"

A painful silence clung to the air. The smile had vanished from Takakura's face, now replaced by a hurt frown. He scratched the back of his head and sighed loudly, trying to choose his words carefully. Jill wasn't anything like he had expected.

"Then why are you here?"

Jill froze; any kind of feisty comeback was caught in her throat. Unwanted tears stung at the corners of her eyes and, in an effort to maintain the pride she still had, Jill turned her face away from Takakura, staring blankly at the ground. There was another hush that plagued the atmosphere, and Jill was searching frantically in the dirt to find an answer or some sort of response.

"I said, why are you here?" Takakura's previously soft tone had turned stern, a rasp catching in his throat.

"B-Because… I…" Jill twisted the end of her ponytail around her fingertips anxiously. The lavender polish was still pristine on each nail, still smooth to the touch. Takakura noticed it as well, wondering privately to himself why there was paint there in the first place. He had once seen Muffy strut through town harboring red-tipped fingers, but he always tried his best to avoid her. "Whatever, I'm here now so you can stop complaining." Jill's sharp words snapped Takakura back to attention.

"Alright," Takakura clapped his hands together, "get some rest, explore the town. As you can see, you've got a lot of work ahead of you." With that, he whisked off, heading to the small log cabin at the far corner of the farm.

A twinge of guilt remained with Jill as she watched him hobble off. Her mother had always said she was awful with first impressions. She felt that she was able to make friends easiest when her mom was there to basically take the initial conversation step by step. However, she couldn't help but have distaste for Takakura. Maybe her father never would have left them in the first place if the old man didn't exist.

Eventually, Jill shook her head angrily. _Stop being so nostalgic_, she closed her eyes and told herself quietly, _mom's gone now, so there's no use wishing she was here now_. As she scolded her own thoughts, the ground underneath her feet gradually turned into a stone material. She had been so caught up in her sulking she hadn't even realized that she had walked into town. The sun had visibly dipped from its zenith, and the village was still bustling with movement, neighbors sauntering through the streets, occasionally stopping to speak with one another.

"Hey!" A voice off to the side called out to her. A voluptuous blonde girl with an unnecessary amount of makeup caked on her face was strutting towards her, strappy black heels clicking vexingly against the stone. Jill's eyes couldn't help but find their way to the needless amount of skin exposed on her chest by the short red dress she wore. "Are you the new girl the town's been abuzz about?" The girl's nasally voice made Jill's eye twitch slightly. When Jill still didn't respond, the girl giggled and continued speaking incessantly. "Heehee! You totally don't have that, like, farm girl look! You're def from the city, I can tell! Ohh, I've always wanted to live there, but I could never leave this little town! It's just the best!"

_Oh, Goddess,_ Jill couldn't fight the urge to roll her eyes, so she forced herself to close them completely, moving them behind closed lids. _Seriously, _what_ have I gotten myself into_?

"Oh my Goddess!" The blonde girl suddenly squealed, and Jill clutched tightly onto the sides of her green skirt in an attempt to stop herself from covering her ears from the shrill tone. "I'm so sorry! I've been rambling and I never really introduced myself! I'm Muffy." The bodacious girl flashed a pearly smile framed by red lipstick.

"I'm Jill." It was a struggle to speak without sounding stiff.

"Teehee! Jill. That's so cute!" Muffy's hand flew to her cheek. "I work at the Blue Bar! Come by tonight! It's, like, a really great way to meet the village, you know? It's like we're already besties!" Without warning, she threw her arms around Jill, squeezing her shoulders tightly, and her overexposed bosom pressed noticeably between the two of them.

Unused to such overt affection, Jill felt her face flush red. Her hands delivered an uncomfortable pat on Muffy's back that would normally signal the end of a hug, but the blonde girl didn't let go. Finally, after a tiny squeeze, Muffy released Jill, still bearing her same smile from before, and skittered off.

From where she stood, Jill could just make out the sign that told passersby what was inside the stone building. Next-door was a large wooden structure that resembled an inn. Across the cobblestone street were three houses, each made by the same material but shaped a little differently. It was nothing like the city, yet Jill hadn't figured out whether or not that was a bad thing. At this time of day in the city, she probably would be headed to one of the diners that dotted the crowded streets, listening to the cars shout at one other.

Caught in her reminiscent daydream, Jill had begun to walk, and now she found herself passing by rows of strawberry bushes and tomato vines. They flowed gracefully in the small breeze that came from the mountain, adding a certain flair that Jill hoped she could capture in her future farm.

"Admiring the view?" An orotund voice made Jill jump. Leaning on the other side of the wood fence separating her from the pasture was a large woman with red hair tied back into a ponytail. An apron, whose pockets bulged slightly from objects inside them, decorated by picture of various fruits was tied around a loosely fitted, yellow t-shirt. Red rainboots sloshed at the woman's feet, which seemed a little strange given the lack of precipitation.

"I-I… It's nothing like my father's- I mean, _my_ farm…" Jill stepped towards the fence, staring wistfully at the green plants in front of her.

"So you're the kid who took over Jack's farm." The woman grinned, her teeth visibly less white than Muffy's, and Jill frowned at the mention of her father's name. Beads of sweat were sliding down the red-haired woman's face, Jill's eyes following them until they dripped off her chin.

"A-Actually… Jack-" His name felt awkward as it rolled off her tongue, "-was my father."

"Get outta here!" The woman's eyes widened, revealing their emerald color. "I didn't know he had a daughter! Why didn't you ever come to visit?"

Jill curled the end of her ponytail around two of her fingers, fidgeting slightly, unsure how to respond. For some reason, she felt a pang in her heart; she was pained by the fact her father had not even mentioned her. It was like he had forgotten all about the family he had left behind in the city. "Well, I…" _I just found out myself where he had been living this entire time_, she thought the words, but didn't speak them. "I lived in the city my entire life… so…" She ended her statement with a shrug, averting her eyes from the large woman.

"That's too bad." The woman had shifted her weight off the fence, now keeping her arms crossed over her chest. "Maybe if you'd been there, the farm wouldn't have fallen to ruins like it did. Sorry," she added quickly as if to make sure Jill wasn't offended, "I didn't mean to make you feel bad."

"It's fine. Just seeing what I could make out of the land I have is enough to inspire me to work." Jill gestured to the swaying fields of crops before her. They danced in perfect harmony with each other and leaned back on one another when a gust came through.

The woman bellowed a laugh. Her hand slapped against Jill's shoulder with an unexpectedly large force that almost sent her tumbling backwards. "I like the way you think, girl. What's your name, honey?"

"Jill."

"Nice to meetcha!" Her hands were on her hips now, lifting the area of fat around her hips up slightly. "I'm Vesta. I live here on this farm with my brother, Marlin, and our farm aid, Celia. Hey," she suddenly perked up, pulling a cloth bag from the pocket of her apron, and shoved it towards Jill, "take this. It's tomato seeds."

"Oh, no, I couldn't." Jill forced a smile and shook her head. The last thing she needed was to be in debt to someone one her first day.

"Consider it a housewarming gift." Vesta let out a guffaw. Her crooked smile remained on her face as Jill stood still, staring at the bag of seeds that Vesta had dropped on the fence post. "Well, if you never need any more seeds, we sell 'em here, so feel stop by anytime, sweetheart." After she finished talking, Vesta slipped on a worn pair of gloves, wiggling her fingers until they were comfortable, and went back to attend to her farmland.

Jill clicked her tongue, eyeing the sack in front of her. She hated it when people called her 'sweetheart'; even her mother was a culprit.

In the end, Jill snatched the seeds from the fence and made her way home, consciously avoiding another run-in with a villager. Next to the barn was a small shed, mold growing under the paneling on the walls. Inside were shelves along one of the walls, with rusted tools hanging on nails that looked like they were going to snap under the weight at any second, and one cabinet, where, upon opening, Jill discovered dozens of cobwebs dotted by black spiders.

"Ah, what the hell…" She sighed, slugging the sack onto one of the shelves, which caused a cloud of dust to blow into her face. After one cough, she made her way out of the shed and couldn't help but angrily kick at a pebble to send it flying across the weed-ridden ground.

Tapping her foot anxiously, she let out a long breath, staring at the puffs of white in the sky as they spread over the sinking sun. Her feet began taking her towards the only place she knew she could find some solace from the disappointment that was her farm: the Blue Bar.

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**Read and respond! Sorry Skye didn't make it to this chapter, but he'll be here next chapter. I just needed this chapter to introduce some characters and background information :)**


	2. Black Nights

**Sorry it took a chapter, but here comes Skye!**

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Chapter 2

"Go get the tools from the shed."

Jill rubbed her eyes, which were still being dragged down by sleepiness. Her night at the bar did not do her any favors when Takakura had her woken up at five in the morning. After several attempts to hide back under her blankets, the man proved that he was surprisingly strong and ripped off the warmth, sending her tumbling to the floor. Following multiple profanities that even the Goddess herself didn't know, Jill moved sluggishly through her new house, ushering Takakura out rather rudely, and dressed for the day.

Now, they stood together, the overgrown farmland stretching before them. Takakura had his arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows narrowed, and his foot tapped the ground at an impressively quick rate.

"You'll need the sickle, hoe, and watering can today, Jill." Takakura nodded his head in the direction of the shed. His right brow raised as a yawn escaped from Jill, followed by an unreasonably loud sigh. "Are you going?"

Jill shot him a glare for his impatience. A frown plastered to her face, she trudged to the shed, ripping the door open with unnecessary force, only to feel all the color drain from her face when her eyes scanned the presentation before her.

"No, no…" Jill shook her head rapidly, closing her eyes so she wouldn't see the truth. "This can't be happening… Oh, Goddess…" Her fingers combed through her bangs in an attempt to calm herself, curling into a fist afterwards and slamming against the shed wall. "Damn it!" She cried out. The blow from her hand sent a ripple of movement through the weak material that made up the shed.

Before her, there was nothing. No tools, no bag of seeds. The walls had been stripped of their items and the cabinet drawers were thrown open, revealing empty shelves. Even the spider webs were gone. Nothing was in the shed except a girl's shock that was slowly molding into an anger that threatened to boil over.

Two days.

No, not even two days, Jill realized agonizingly. Not even two days after moving from the city and she had been robbed. Robbed of everything she had, which wasn't much, to be fair, but it was still all she had. Only the clothes she'd brought with her from the city remained in her possession, or so she hoped. Each outfit was still crammed into a not-quite-big-enough suitcase that was tucked in the corner of the house somewhere.

All of it was depressingly ironic, however. In the city, her mother had always cautioned Jill that she had to look after her things carefully. Dangerous people prowled the streets, hunting for a target to attain some fixings for the day. Yet, in the city, where, apparently, people get robbed all the time, Jill had never once had something stolen. Not a cent.

A feeling of helplessness swirled around the normally confident Jill. It sent a chill down her spine, causing her reflexes to move her arms to circulate her body in an attempt to feel secure again. The feeling dragged her down until she hit the dirt that spread along the splintering wood floor.

Ah, the irony of it all.

_So this is rock bottom_. Jill sighed heavily, something that has seemed to happen more often recently than it used to.

The creak of the door sounded, which led to Jill being bumped fiercely by an exasperated old man. Normally, she would have jumped at the chance to bark at the elderly gentleman, most likely using some well-worded sentence that demonstrated both her annoyance and her cunning sarcasm, but nothing came. Not only had her belongings been stolen but also her quick tongue. She already hated this person more than anyone in her life. It was one thing to steal her tools… but her pride?

"Jill, what in the world are you doing?"

Takakura's stern voice broke Jill out of her state of self-pity. Immediately, she released herself, standing up even quicker.

"I… uh…"

"Where are the tools?"

_Shit._ Jill released another boisterous sigh. Sticking her lower lip out slightly, she cautiously avoided Takakura's irritated gaze.

"Jill." She wasn't looking at him, but she just knew that he had his eyes narrowed and arms crossed. "Where are the tools?"

"I… don't know…" Her voice broke just faintly, adding an uncomfortable squeak to her tone.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" His raised voice made Jill want to curl up in a ball again.

_ Goddess, I am so pathetic. I'm being intimidated by a dinosaur. _

"Jill!" He boomed at a level she had not yet heard from him before.

"I said I don't know!" Jill cried out, gesturing in the direction of the empty shelves.

"Is this some sort of ploy to get out of working?" His foot tapped rapidly against the flooring.

"No!" Jill brought her hands to her forehead. "Someone stole everything! Even the seeds Vesta gave me."

"Vesta gave you seeds?" Takakura's expression softened, only to return to its cold countenance again. "How could you let this happen?!"

"I'm sorry that the day I show up the farm decides to get robbed!" The universe just had it out for her. There hadn't been a lock on the shed when she first arrived yesterday, yet, for what Jill assumed to be years, the tools stayed torpid in their positions, not enticing any thieves until now. "What was I supposed to do, guard the shed the entire night?"

Takakura's mouth opened to speak, but he stopped himself short, the words caught in his throat. She was right. He couldn't blame her for any of this, really, since he himself had never kept his tools locked in during the years he worked the farm with her father.

Jill sensed the change in Takakura's aura, now beginning to calm down herself. "So now what?" Although she said this, Jill was privately hoping she could wander the town again today. Her dreams were quickly crushed by Takakura's response.

"Time to meet Spot," he said, adding quickly after it, "your cow. She's your only source of income now, so make a good first impression."

Jill's shoulders slumped as she followed Takakura into the desolate metal barn neighboring the shed.

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"Two days in a row, huh?"

Jill rolled her eyes at the bartenders comment. She once again found herself sitting on a stool, twirling the straw around in her drink, which caused the ice cubes to clink together.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were here to see me." Griffin's bushy mustache tipped up on the edges in response to his grin. There were pieces of hair sticking out along his chin, presumably those missed by a cheap razor. Behind his chapped lips was a set of stained teeth that Jill tried her best to avoid looking at.

"Just been a rough two days." She ran her fingers through her hair slowly, having left it down after taking an uncomfortably cold shower. The glass in front of her had been emptied and refilled multiple times since her arrival at the Blue Bar.

"What happened?" The bartender was dragging a towel through a recently used mug. The problem was that the towel seemed to be much dirtier than the glass itself.

"Well…" A shrug raised Jill's shoulders an inch, only to let them drop immediately afterwards. "Someone took all the tools and seeds I had for the farm… All I have now is… Spot." There was a distasteful emphasis on the cow's name. Already the black and white animal had spat on and kicked Jill, not to mention the countless times she was whipped by the unexpectedly powerful tail.

"Jill, I think I could help you out!" Lumina, who had been sitting next to her silently for some time, suddenly chimed in. Her plaid dress contrasted with the atmosphere of the bar, much too refined for the much less refined pub. Lumina had been at the Blue Bar the night before as well, chatting with Muffy, when Jill arrived. The blonde girl had introduced the two of them and, as awkward as Jill was around pampered girls, she found herself liking the brown-haired girl.

"What do you mean?" Jill met Lumina's brown-eyed gaze with urgency and a silent prayer in her heart that the wealthy girl had some solution.

"I think I have some old tools in the shed by my house. You could have them, if you'd like."

"Really?" As much as Jill hated owing people favors, she needed the help now more than ever, and she willingly admitted it. "That would be great! Thank you…"

"Let's head to my house, okay?"

Together, the two brunettes twisted their barstools around and headed out of the bar, each of them dropping off the payment for their individual drinks before exiting. Everything in Forget-Me-Not Valley was close, so it didn't take long to reach Lumina's mansion.

"Holy…" Jill's mouth fell open at the sight before her. She'd never seen house this big. "I thought houses like these were only in movies…"

Lumina giggled somewhat awkwardly. "Yeah, well, it's my granny's. I was just lucky to be born into the family." There was a tense air now, as if she wanted to say more, but didn't. "I'll go grab the tools, just wait here."

Jill remained by the marble fountain, wrapping her arms around herself. The air had cooled noticeably since her time at the bar, the moon high in the sky and the sun long gone from sight.

The door to the villa opened and, to Jill's surprise, it wasn't Lumina that appeared. Rather, a tall man with silver hair strolled out the door. Through the darkness she could make out a white shirt, spotted with what looked like black cheetah print, and a pair of violet pants. His movements were smooth and nearly noiseless. Only the sound of the water spitting from the fountain could be heard. Clutched in one of his hands was a bag. As he rounded the hedges, his eyes locked on Jill, widening just a little bit.

"Oh, ho!" Arms crossed, the man flicked his hair to the side and made his way over to her. "Isn't it late for a little girl to be walking alone?"

Jill was still trying to process what was happening. None of the townspeople had mentioned someone that even resembled him.

"What's your name, beautiful?" He winked and tried to reach for Jill's hand, but she remained frozen in her place. A devilish smile pulled at his lips before he brought his hand back and continued, "They call me the prince of the stars."

Jill was suddenly smacked back to her senses by the man's egotistical ways. With her eyebrow raised incredulously, she crossed her arms and finally spoke. "First time I've heard of you."

"Hmm… that's strange." The silver-haired man shrugged nonchalantly. "Because I'm quite the ladies' man."

"Ha! Okay." Jill scoffed, but averted her gaze from the man. His tone was smoky and had a mysterious element to it that Jill couldn't help but be intrigued by.

"The moon does sparkle quite excellently in your eyes," he said, guiding his slim fingers through his hair.

"Hey, Jill!"

The shout caused Jill to jump, and then both her and the silver-haired man turned to look back at the villa. Lumina was rushing out with a furious look on her face.

Skye's face whipped back to Jill, the same smile decorating his pale features. "Jillian, is it? What a lovely name…"

"It's _Jill_," she snapped back instinctively.

His eyes flashed from Jill to Lumina's red face, an annoyed sigh releasing from his lips. "Ah, as much as I would love to talk more with you, I'm a bit pressed for time." The man was slowly stepping backwards towards the exit of the villa's garden. "We'll meet again. It's in the stars."

"Stop right there!" Lumina had reached them now, her voice uncharacteristically shrill.

"Ah, come on, beautiful, don't let such anger spoil your splendor."

_Ugh_. Jill rolled her eyes. _What an ego._

"Oh…" To Jill's amazement, Lumina's face had softened, replaced by a shy smile and a light blush. "What a smooth talker…"

"They call me Phantom Skye." With a smirk, he vanished into the darkness of the night.

"H-Hey! Wait!" Lumina ran off after him, only to return shortly after. "Phantom Skye…" Her voice was full of wonder, and Jill had to stifle a groan of disappointment. How could Lumina have fallen for that crap?

"He's a little full of himself, huh?" Jill crossed her arms indignantly over her chest, staring at Lumina a little judgmentally.

"Phantom Skye… He's a famous thief too."

"Wait, what?!" Jill felt like she needed a slap across the face to confirm that she wasn't dreaming. That man must be the one who stole all her tools! "Why didn't you stop him?!"

"He… He got away!" Lumina stammered, still moonstruck by the events.

Anger boiled in Jill. Only the reminder that Lumina had just been robbed as well settled her bubbling fury enough for her to keep her composure. Exhaling loudly, Jill found herself now noticing the tool tightly clutched in Lumina's hand.

"Is that for me?" Jill said flatly.

"Oh!" Lumina snapped out of her train of thought. "Yeah, here, take it. I'm not really sure why we have it, but here it is."

It was a sickle. But it was sickle in fairly good condition, especially when compared to the piece of junk that had been resting in the shed at Jill's farm.

"Thanks." Taking the sickle, Jill headed off, moving briskly so that she could return before it got too late. Her mind traced the events of the night, none of it seeming real. There was a well-known thief that everyone else just happened to forget to mention? Forget-Me-Not Valley just seemed to get worse and worse by the day.

But… there was nowhere else she could go.

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**So Skye makes his debut... If you didn't notice, I used the idea of his Black Heart Event for the basis of their first meeting. Read and Review!**


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